Behind closed doors Tuesday, the majority of Albany City Commission members told beleaguered City Manager Alfred Lott that he must resign in lieu of being fired, multiple sources close to the matter told The Albany Journal.
James Taylor is expected to be selected over Wes Smith as interim city manager, although Public Works Director Phil Roberson also is being considered, the sources said. Taylor and Smith are Lott’s assistant city managers.
The Journal’s sources said that Lott is considering resigning by the end of the week in return for a positive job recommendation and a hefty severance package. Lott is being forced to resign after nearly five years on the job because of Lott’s numerous personnel catastrophes, culminating with Human Resources Director Mary LaMont filing a federal racial and sexual discrimination complaint, and then resigning.
Nearly all of Lott’s major human resources decisions were disastrous, including his botched pay-for-performance employee pay plan, a wage-and-hour snafu that cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, and his hiring downtown manager Don Buie, police chief James Younger, Civic Center director John Mazzola, human resources director Jim Coston, and finance director Robert Jones.
Still, commissioners have agreed to publicly support Lott’s handling of LaMont, and Lott intends to reveal documentation that LaMont — who had a spotless personnel record — committed serious infractions during her 13-month tenure, the sources said.
Under terms of an agreement that is being mediated by Mayor Willie Adams, Lott will make the announcement that he is resigning as soon as this week, the sources said.
The City Commission bypassed the public and instead met privately in executive session Tuesday morning. Adams and the six commissioners refuse to disclose specifics of the secret discussion. Commissioners say they are under the impression, albeit mistakenly, that they are not allowed by law to reveal details of executive session discussions.
Here’s the background regarding Lott’s job being on the line.
The City Commission is not legally allowed to take a vote during executive sessions; the commission, however, has previously broken state laws governing conducting business in the sunshine.
